Drug death risk up for injectors after hospital discharge

Addicts with a history of drug injecting are at significant risk of a fatal overdose in the four weeks after being released from hospital, a study has shown.

12 Nov 2015

Researchers, drawing on Scottish NHS records, said this means doctors must now alter their advice to patients.

In the years 2006-10 there were 1,970 opioid-related deaths in Scotland.

The Cambridge University study revealed 11.2% (125) of the patients had recently been treated in hospital.

The researchers at the MRC Biostatistics Unit at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health had earlier revealed the high risk of drug-related death among injectors released from prison.

They said that risk, first identified in Scotland, is well-known and users, their peers and families accept they must take precautions against fatal overdose.

This includes the use of naloxone, a drug which can reverse the effects of an overdose caused by heroin or other opioid such as methadone.

The scientists, along with a team from Glasgow Caledonian University, said their new findings carried an important message for injectors and health professionals.

Scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a national naloxone programme, after concern was raised that the rate of drug-related deaths there was considerably higher than in other parts of the UK.

A monitoring report, issued by NHS Scotland in October 2015 suggested it had recorded significant success.

It said: "The percentage of all opioid-related deaths that occurred within four weeks of prison release fell steadily from 9.8% during 2006-10 (before the programme) to 3.1% in 2014.

The CSTF is a joint initiative of the New York and Vienna NGO Committees on Drugs. To support preparations for the 2019 Ministerial Segment, to be held at the 62nd Session of CND, Global Civil Society Hearings are being held in New York (20th February 2019) and Vienna (26th February 2019).

This event will launch Harm Reduction International's latest report on this issue and discuss how abolishing the death penalty for drug offemnces could serve as an entry point for broader abolition efforts.